Forty Year Update of the Kerner Riot Commission

Forty Year Update of the Kerner Riot Commission

The above photo is from Detroit, during the rebellion of 1967. In response to this and similar events across the nation, President Lyndon Johnson formed the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders – the Kerner Riot Commission, named after its Chair, then Illinois Governor Otto Kerner. The Eisenhower Foundation is the private sector continuation of the Kerner Riot Commission (and the National Violence Commission).

The Foundation periodically updates the Kerner Riot Commission (and the National Violence Commission).

A Forty-Year Update of the Kerner Commission Report

On March 26, 2009 Eisenhower Foundation President and CEO Alan Curtis spoke to the City Club of Cleveland on the preliminary finding of the 40 Year Update of the Kerner Commission. Nearly 100 years old, the City Club has served as a forum where persons from a wide variety of political and social positions could meet to discuss ideas for "the improvement of the political, social and economic conditions of the entire community." Click here to see a video of Dr. Curtis' presentation.

The Obama Vision and the Kerner Commission

In his Inaugural Address on January 20, 2009, Barack Obama said, “The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small but whether it works….Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end.”

On April 16, 2009 Eisenhower Foundation President Alan Curtis spoke before the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College, noting that it has long been the position of the Foundation that only programs that work should be supported, and that this is best demonstrated when proper evaluation of programs occurs. Click here to see a video of Dr. Curtis' presentation.